Sports Panel: “Two-Minute Warnings, Sudden Death Overtimes, and Running Out the Clock” (311), 11 a.m., Nov. 6, Ganz Hall, Roosevelt University. If you’re a sports fan yearning for reasoned, knowledgeable and witty repartee, something you simply can’t find on today’s airwaves, this will be an oasis. Panelists are the Sun-Times’ Ron Rapoport, a been-there, done-that guy; Lester Munson, a cut-to-the-quick legal writer for Sports Illustrated as well as a refugee of the old “Sportswriters on TV” show; and University of Chicago athletic director Thomas Weingartner, who can give you the skinny on why the Maroons quit the Big 10 in 1944. — Mike Conklin
David Lodge, “Time in the Novel” (315), noon-1 p.m., Nov. 6, First United Methodist Church (Chicago Temple). Academics are funny. They’re funniest, in fact, when they don’t know how funny they are — when they take themselves and their arcane research subjects and intellectual peccadilloes way too seriously. British novelist David Lodge has always been at the head of the class when it comes to puncturing the pretentiousness of academia — but doing it smartly, with a fountain pen instead of a hunting knife. His latest novel, “Author, Author” conjures up a literary figure about whom literature professors like to gas on endlessly: Henry James. — Julia Keller
Chuck D., “Hip-hop and the Digital Divide” (329), 2 p.m., Nov. 6, Fullerton Auditorium, Art Institute of Chicago. As frontman for the socially conscious, street-side atomic blast of rap’s Public Enemy in the Reagan era, Chuck D. once proclaimed “Rap is CNN for black people.” Though his colleagues have flamboyantly fallen from grace (notably flimflam man Flavor Flav, appearing on “The Surreal Life”), D. remains a potent force to be dealt with and unpredictable in person. — Robert K. Elder
Sharon Olds, John Barr, “Poetry” (331), 3:30-4:30 p.m., Nov. 6, Loyola University (downtown). I first came across a Sharon Olds poem in The New Yorker. It recounted a woman’s mad dash to the airport; she had just been told that her father was dying, and she needed to get to California to see him before . . . well, you know. The brief poem built relentlessly to a shattering climax, leaving me breathless. I’ve been hooked ever since on the powerful, deeply personal work of Olds, who speaks along with fellow poet John Barr. Among the best of Olds’ eight volumes are “The Dead and the Living” (1983) and “The Father” (1992). Families, children, age and death: Olds writes about universal topics with piercing specificity. — Julia Keller
Architecture Panel: “Shared Space” (332), 3:30 p.m., Nov. 6, second floor atrium, National-Louis University. In a world of walls and fences that divide, how can architects and urban planners create public spaces where people of different ethnic, national and religious groups can interact without rancor? Architects including New York City’s Michael Sorkin take up that question as Richard Solomon, director of the Chicago-based Graham Foundation, moderates. — Blair Kamin
Roger Shattuck, Great Books Discussion (334), 2:30 p.m., Nov. 6, Chicago Public Library. The mandatory program on any series devoted to time has to explore the highly personal perceptions of Marcel Proust. Here one of his best English-language biographers discusses an excerpt from “Swann’s Way,” the first of the seven volumes comprising Proust’s autobiographical novel, “Rembrance of Things Past.” The discussion is followed at 4 p.m. by Shattuck speaking on “Proust, Einstein and the Fourth Dimension.” which will delve further into the author’s singular time world. — Alan G. Artner
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“Songs of Our Time” (340), 7:30 p.m. Nov. 6, Harris Theater for Music and Dance. Cabaret diva Andrea Marcovicci will emcee the annual songwriting showcase, which this year will feature the work of contemporary artists, including Shelly Markham, John Bucchino, Johnny Rodgers and Mary Liz McNamara. It’s a welcome opportunity to hear a new generation of literate tunesmiths, as well as Marcovicci and guest Sharon McKnight. — Howard Reich
Alex Kotlowitz: “Accidental Chicagoan” (409), 1 p.m., Nov. 7, Harold Washington Library. It’s easy to let shiny, new icons like Millennium Park and Soldier Field dominate our Chicago view. Kotlowitz, a transplanted New York writer, has made it his mission since moving here to show us a city most visitors, and many natives, don’t know exists. A great session if you’re more interested in learning about Hegewisch and Irondale than Lincoln Park and Water Tower Place. It’s all in his new book, “Never a City So Real: A Walk in Chicago.” — Mike Conklin
McGuire Gibson, “Erasing the Past, Diminishing the Future” (423), 4 p.m., Nov. 7, National-Louis University. In the early days of our folly in Iraq no one spoke more passionately against the destruction of historic artifacts than this distinguished archeologist from the Oriental Institute at University of Chicago. Now he considers the long-term costs to cultural and national identity, taking into account future archeological expeditions and even tourism. — Alan G. Artner
Peter Brotzmann Chicago Tentet (425), 8 p.m. Nov. 7, Thorne Auditorium of Northwestern University’s School of Law. Though this ground-breaking band has played avant-garde clubs in Chicago, this time the group will perform in a bona fide listening room. Moreover, the musicians will unveil a new, improvised piece built upon the work of poet Kenneth Patchen, performed in a multi-media setting. — Howard Reich
Peter Greenaway, “In Conversation” (503), 8 p.m., Nov. 9, Thorne Auditorium, Northwestern University. Some years ago film director Peter Greenaway took over Mariano Fortuny’s palazzo in Venice and created an installation on the theme of water that virtually blew away scores of full-time painters and sculptors exhibiting in the Venice Biennale. This most challenging of visual artists will discuss here “The Moab Story,” part one of “The Tulse Luper Suitcase,” a recent film epic that sweeps across 20th Century history. (The film will be shown at 7 p.m. Nov. 10.) — Alan G. Artner
Neil Gaiman, “New Stuff” (506), 8:30 p.m., Nov. 10, Student Center, DePaul University (Lincoln Park). I’ve known Gaiman, writer of comic books (“The Sandman”) and novels (“American Gods”) for the past 12 years, and he consistently surprises me. Not only does he keep one of the most engaging, detailed and insightful diary blogs on the Web (www.neilgaiman.com), but his skills as a reader of his own work are unequaled. If there’s a chance we’ll get to hear some forthcoming work, as the program title suggests, you should be in the front row next to me. — Robert K. Elder
History Panel: “Time and Truth” (604), 10 a.m., Nov. 13, Student Center, DePaul University (Lincoln Park), 2250 N. Sheffield Ave. Fiction can broaden our understanding of history — or poison it. “All the King’s Men” by Robert Penn Warren, the fictionalized biography of Huey Long, is an example of how a writer’s imagination can get deeper at the truth of history than just the facts. On the other hand, Oliver Stone’s movie “JFK” shows how make-believe can warp the public’s understanding of the events of the past. Four panelists, including novelist Valerie Martin (“Property”) and playwright Charles Smith (“Free Man of Color”), will look at this question of truth in historical fiction in the context of the abolitionist movement just before the Civil War. — Patrick T. Reardon
Great Book Discussion: Richard Dawkins (613GB), 10:30-11:30 a.m., Nov. 13, Newberry Library. You slather it with high-priced moisturizing products, hone it at expensive gyms and feed it at regular intervals. But in truth, your body is less important than you think it is: According to the eminent evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, it’s really just a handy briefcase for your genes. Dawkins thinks and writes the way a circus acrobat walks the high wire –with great skill and endless zest. This Oxford prof stunned the world with “The Selfish Gene” (1976) and advanced the theory of memes — cultural ideas that replicate as do genes. “It’s all about the genes,” Dawkins writes. “It’s the genes that, for their own good, are manipulating the bodies they ride about in.” — Julia Keller
Architecture Panel: “Remembering Louis Kahn” (617), 12:30 p.m., Nov. 13, Museum of Contemporary Art. For those who’ve seen Nathaniel Kahn’s moving, Oscar-nominated movie, “My Architect: A Son’s Journey,” and even those who haven’t, this promises to be a rewarding panel. Its subject is the late Louis Kahn, one of the essential figures of 20th Century modernism. The panelists include Nathaniel Kahn and University of Pennsylvania art historian David Brownlee, who has written insightfully about Kahn’s work. “My Architect” will be shown at the MCA before the panel, from 10 a.m. to noon (606). — Blair Kamin
Ars Antigua, “Remembrance of Things Past” (622), 2-3 p.m. Nov. 13, Quigley Seminary Chapel, Rush and Pearson Streets. Just as Marcel Proust’s tea-soaked madeleine could summon a flood of memories in the minds of his fictional characters, so can modern musicians playing period instruments create in us an illusory “nostalgia” for the courtly concerts of the Baroque era. I always look forward to hearing this fine ensemble’s series in the intimacy and serenity of Quigley Chapel. This concert, devoted to instrumental works by Vivaldi, Telemann and J.S. Bach, should be an ideal match of music and milieu. Admission is free, but tickets are required (312-494-9509). Pass the madeleines. –John von Rhein
Composer Michael Daugherty, “Fire and Blood” (627), 3:30-5 p.m. Nov. 13, Museum of Contemporary Art. Few contemporary classical composers plunder from American pop culture as wickedly as Daugherty. That said, the Chicago premiere of his “Fire and Blood” looks to be a rather more serious departure for the guy who wrote the opera “Jackie O” and the hilariously kitschy “Dead Elvis” and “Le Tombeau de Liberace.” Daugherty’s 2003 violin concerto, written on commission from the Detroit Symphony, was inspired by the “Detroit Industry” frescoes of Diego Rivera and his wife, Frida Kahlo, on view at the Detroit Institute of Arts. I’m curious to hear how “Fire and Blood” translates the bold shapes and riotous colors of such monumental public art into musical sounds. Daugherty will introduce his concerto and its performers, violinist Bethany Mennemeyer and pianist David Gilliland. –John von Rhein
Pankaj Mishra, “The Buddha in His Time” (716), 2 p.m. Nov. 14, Newberry Library. Eastern thoughts about time have turned up in a great many classics of modern Western literature. Here the author of “The End of Suffering: The Buddha in the World” speaks about the political and social context of a new concept of time, in which the Buddha sought to focus human energy not on the past or future but only on the present. –Alan G. Artner
Douglas Brinkley: “Kerouac’s Journals” (717), 2:30 p.m., Nov. 14, First United Methodist Church. The prize-winning historian is here to discuss his “Windblown World,” early journals of Beat writer Jack Kerouac. I’m figuring it this way: The Presidential election still will be fresh in everybody’s minds, making it impossible for me not to slip in a question about the outcome. Brinkley also wrote “Tour of Duty: John Kerry and the Vietnam War”–an objective look at the Democrat nominee’s time in the service followed by his protest of the war. — Mike Conklin
Kevin Cole (726), 4:30 p.m. Nov. 14 in Thorne Auditorium of Northwestern University’s School of Law. Arguably the country’s leading interpreter of the piano music of George Gershwin, Cole this time extends his reach to scores by Jerome Kern, Cole Porter and Irving Berlin, among others. — Howard Reich
“The Origin of Christianity,” Parts I and II (901), 10 a.m., Nov. 6, and 10 a.m., Nov. 7, at Facets Cinematheque, 1517 W. Fullerton Ave. I’m a sucker for sagas–every couple years, I’ll watch the “Godfather” trilogy. This nine-hour documentary, shown in two parts, seems right up my alley. Jerome Prieur and Gerard Mordillat spent three years interviewing Biblical scholars from Jerusalem to Harvard and produced a film that, when originally aired on French TV, sparked sharp controversy. It’s certainly an important subject. Just as modern Westerners are now trying to understand Islam and its impact on our world, it’s well worth anyone’s while to examine the beginnings of Christianity and how it has shaped history ever since. — Patrick T. Reardon
Clive Barker, “The Second Book of Abarat” (c3; Children’s Festival), noon, Oct. 30, Harold Washington Library Center. A couple years ago, Barker (“Weaveworld,” “The Damnation Game”) gave one of the funniest, most revealing and gloriously obscene interviews on stage at the World Horror Convention. Given the youth-geared program, I expect Clive to be on his best behavior, but just as devilishly brilliant. — Robert K. Elder